Wednesday, August 29, 2012

The Dulce Truck is one sweet baby

Cookies, cheesecake, and chai

Ericka Kalinowski and her husband are food truck fans. So when the opportunity came around to start their own, it wasn’t a hard decision to make. But what’s different about their truck? Instead of tacos, sandwiches, or other hearty fare, you’ll find sweets and sweet teas at the Dulce Truck.

Kalinowski and her husband both used to be pastry chefs. They’re fans of sweets, but they also wanted to add some Southern flare to their truck. “We figured everyone in the South loves sweet tea, so we decided to pair the desserts and pastries with sweet teas,” Kalinowski says.

The green and black teas Dulce serves come from the Charleston Tea Plantation, and they’re infused with different ingredients to create flavors like blueberry basil, lemon lavender, peach mint, and coconut chai. All the desserts are made from scratch, from cookies to cakes to bars to breakfast pastries, and they’re trying to use as many local ingredients as possible. The paper products, which come from Port City Paper, are biodegradeable and compostable.

“I think it’s a welcome change to the food truck scene,” Kalinowski says. “It’s great to be stationed next to a tasty savory truck serving great dishes and then people come over to our truck to finish off a meal with something sweet to make it complete.”

She compares their desserts to what you’d get at a downtown restaurant — triple chocolate mousse, creme brûlée, and six-layer coconut cake — but for half the price. The cheesecakes have been a big hit so far, with toppings depending on what local ingredients Ericka can get her hands on to enhance to sweet and creamy vanilla. You’ll find traditional fruity flavors, and more experimental tastes like caramel and bacon.

“My favorite is crème brûlée,” she adds. “I even added a matcha green tea crème brûlée that is surprisingly popular. I like to change up the flavors according to what is in season and readily available.”